Am I crazy for thinking this?
- Thread starter UnCytely
- Start date
Ya but Williams always pumps sunshine about who TJ's assistants would have been back then. Wish he would just tell us who it was going to be.
Quotes like these almost make me wonder if you guys think Coach Green deserves more credit for this turnaround than TJ, and when Green inevitably leaves for his next gig, do we just think the wheels are gonna fly off? TJ is the puppet and Green is the puppet master in a lot of peoples minds is some of the sentiment I pick up on from time to time. I don't want to agree, because I'm in the crowd that doesn't think Green is here for the long haul.
Honestly, he would not have fit on this team very well. Yes, he would have added an inside scoring punch, but that would have been more than offset by his horrible defense. If you watch Conditt and Jones (and sometimes Kunc) at the 5, they are really good at bringing the double and recovering. On the pick and roll, they hedge and then roll back with the cutter. Not to speak ill of Solo, but he was the worst pick and roll defender I've ever seen. He was constantly in no man's land either not hedging hard enough and allowing the ball handler to turn the corner or hedging too hard and not getting back quick enough where his man ended up with a dunk or layup. Heck, the TCU backup PG had 15 assists against us in Hilton. It was maddening, because Prohm ran pick and roll 90% of the time, yet his team had zero idea how to defend it. When you can't guard one of the most basic plays in basketball, the whole defense falls apart and this team does not score well enough to get into shootouts where they are letting the opponent score at will.
I don't know about the long haul, but his wife still has her practice in CF. He's not going to jump for an assistant job anywhere. If ISU does well enough that he gets a HC job somewhere, that's a different story. Especially if Jacobson moves on from UNI...but at this point he's not a big name and yet not doing poorly enough to get fired plus he's nowhere near retirement age. Any assistant would leave for a D1 HC job, but I really doubt that Green is job hunting.
TJ gets credit for coming into a bad situation and setting the tone to get ISU back to what makes ISU basketball great especially at home. All accounts are that the players know each other very well off the court which has helped the chemistry this early on.
Repeating, but they also appear to know where they stand, what their role is, etc. which starts from the top. And I'd like to hear at some point something in depth from players like Conditt to hear their perspective on the differences from the two regimes.
How about Green is given credit for the foundation of the defense and also providing the general foundation for TJ to take going forward if/when he leaves?
Pretty much any head coach is successful with good assistants. TJ gets credit so far for knowing what he wanted to do and getting the right guy in to enhance it.
I am with you now. I just notice a lot of praise getting heaped on to Green, and it is probably well deserved, I just wanted to check the pulse of the fan base in general to make sure TJ is considered in as positive of a light as Kyle. Gotta give credit to the guy that brought Green here after all.
I would also like to hear Conditt, Jackson, maybe even Grill weigh in on the differences of playing for Prohm v. Otz, but understand if they wouldn't want to out of respect to Prohm.
Any good play is coach + right players. A huge part of recruiting is identifying the “right” players for your plan, rather than just talent.
This defense doesn’t happen without it being the head coach’s plan, top priority, and demanding it basically every possession (calling a timeout 3 minutes into a buy game because the defense was not up to standard). Why do you think he hired Green first and intentionally brought in good defenders? This defense is as much TJ as the offense under Hoiberg was Hoiball, even though it needed those players to work well.
Great to see the flexibility in TJ’s high level planning. SDSU set up for Hoiberg like approach, which would have been a harder thing to implement this year. Mistakes and adversity impacted UNLV play, but it’s also UNLV. I don’t think the HC can as easily put his mark on the culture.
The 2016-17 team had an AdjD of 42nd. Best since Morgan. Given what we know now, I have little doubt TJ and Green would get them to be top-20 at least. Look at the improvements in Conditt and Jackson. That team was self-driven and Prohm’s weakness as a leader not a big deal, but they still could have used someone teaching Young how to handle a ball screen. Young would be nice to have this year btw.
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Ha, yeah it's not like TJ's not doing anything--the thing that intrigued me about his hire is that he 'gets it' when it comes to ISU basketball or would at least have real knowledge about it. And it's HIS foundation to instill that the players play their asses off for one another and communication lines look like they are open.
For example some of the feeds on fast breaks etc. are really underrated for how naturally the players interact.
The players' recounts of the differences are gossipy, sure, but personally I'm fascinated by program/team dynamics and what things looked like. Some article a couple of years ago detailing the practice/film session sure didn't paint a very strong picture.
edited because I guess I didn’t realize you could think a coach would have 1 or 2 national championships by now had he started sooner but also not consider him one of the best college coaches in college basketball. So I will stick with the last part below.
It’s been 12 games and we already have a thread about all the national titles we would have if TJ were the coach sooner. Good grief.
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I think it’s possible to say TJ would have been better than Prohm with those teams, and yet he’s at a whole other level as a coach now given his other experiences. The 5 years away from Ames made him more hungry and that added fuel is what makes him truly dangerous now - the sky is the limit. You throw Kyle Green in there and this unique group of guys TJ brought together, and we have something special going. I think the future is extremely bright given the kind of recruits coming and the fact that we’re likely to return almost everyone from this roster next year.
there is no doubt. Both win it. 2020 as well, with all the recruits pouring in after the 16-17 Naty. We are an alternate universe freaking dynasty!
I think TJ understood that at a school like Iowa State you HAVE to have an identity and he’s chosen the defensive route. He’s seen first hand what happens if you just rely on offense…
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
Like what? You only go to one Sweet Sixteen? That's been the max here at ISU.
Did I miss where that was said, or are you resorting to using a strawman?
That is not needed to win the title or make a FF with those teams. See inexperienced Kevin Ollie inheriting a similar talented roster. It’s whether this staff adds enough value over the last to make that team better.
It wouldn’t have taken much improvement on the bench. Given those players overcame hands-off coaching, at best, to be 49th in defense, this staff likely gets them to be better enough to have more success. And they likely also utilize matchups better.
Chill out and enjoy life
I think it was good for him to go to other schools, and work with different assistants and try different styles. Otz, Green, and Blount are great coaches, who targeted transfers who are great defenders and culture setting type players.
